Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, etc. are the property of JK. Rowling and Rick Riordan. The OC characters and storyline are purely my imagination running wild. My story is for entertainment only and is not part of any official storylines. I do not have any association with J. K. Rowling or Rick Riordan even though I wish I had. No copyright infringement is intended.
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Skye gave a passing glance between Zoe and Atlas, taking in all the family resemblance between the two. With this glance, Skye noticed that Atlas had the same regal expression as Zoe, the same proud look that Zoe sometimes got when she was furious about anything upsetting, but this look upon Atlas was a thousand times darker than that of Zoe.
"Let Artemis go," Zoe growled angrily at her Lady's treatment.
"Perhaps you would like to exchange places with her then? Take the sky for her?" Atlas asked as he walked closer to the chained goddess, causing Skye to tense.
"No! Do not even think about it, Zoe, Skye! I forbid it." Lady Artemis panicked.
"Milady…" Skye whimpered softly.
"Lady Artemis, we will free you, that I promise!" Lyra said with conviction while squeezing Skye's shoulder in comfort.
"Wait, I don't understand," Percy said, looking confused. "Why can't Artemis just let go of the sky?"
"Oh, how little you understand, young son of the sea," Atlas laughed. "This is the point where the sky and earth met for the first time, where Ouranos and Gaia brought forth their mighty children, the Titans. The sky still yearns to embrace the earth. Someone must always hold it at bay, or else it would crash down upon this place, instantly flattening the mountain and everything within a hundred miles. Once you take the burden, there is no escape, well, unless someone else takes it from you."
Skye noticed how Atlas slowly approached Thalia and Percy while observing them. "So, these are the best heroes of the age, eh? Well, not much of a challenge then."
"Believe what you will," Annabeth said, "But nothing you say will stop us from saving Lady Artemis."
Atlas's eyes glowed with hatred before directing his attention towards Thalia.
"Ah, daughter of Zeus, it would seem that Luke was wrong about you," Atlas said with a sneer.
"No, I wasn't wrong," Luke said as he turned towards Thalia. "Thalia, it is not too late for you to join us."
"No Luke, I don't know you anymore. You have changed from the loving, protective person I once knew to someone who would betray their family and friends at the drop of a hat," Thalia whispered in a broken, pained voice.
But Luke wasn't done. "No, I did not betray you. I just came to acknowledge the truth about the gods and how they use us. With Kronos, we can change that. So, join us! Join me!"
"My answer will always remain the same, Luke. No! You betrayed Annabeth and me, and I will never forgive you for that." Thalia growled before continuing. "I will take you back to the camp, to the gods, beaten bloody if I have to."
"Please, Thalia, if you don't agree…" Luke said as his voice faltered.
"Enough, she has chosen her side, and it is not with you. But you have to agree this way is more fun," Atlas said in an excited and sadistic way as the battle drew closer.
The time was running out quickly as the army of monsters got closer to them. Skye knew that if they did not move now, then everything would be for nothing.
Skye met Lyra's eyes before receiving a nod of acceptance and approval. It was now or never.
Skye looked at Thalia and Zoe before moving her eyes towards Annabeth and Percy, and knew the time had come to fight for their lives and future.
"Now!" Percy said.
With that, the group charged.
Skye could see Thalia and Annabeth charge Luke and the surrounding monsters in the corner of her eye. Thalia had her shield and spear raised as she jumped into the fight, sharp blasts of lightning and thunder could be heard as she went.
Skye quickly sped to engage the Titan in battle, with Percy following behind while Zoe and Lyra stood in the distance, supporting them with arrows and spells.
"Skye, Percy!" Zoe said. "Beware!"
Skye knew straight away what she was warning us about. Pan explained this to her ages ago: Immortals are constrained by ancient rules. But a hero or mortal can go anywhere, and challenge anyone, as long as you have the nerve to do so. Once you attack, however, the immortal is free to attack back directly, with all their might.
Percy swung his sword toward Atlas, but was knocked aside by the shaft of Atlas's javelin. Percy flew through the air and slammed into the marble wall of the palace that was slowly rebuilding itself brick by brick.
"Do not block his attacks. He is too strong for that!" Zoe's voice carried over the noise of the battlefield as she turned some of the monsters into golden dust.
'Dodging it is then,' Skye thought as she jumped out of the way of one of Atlas's swings.
A moment later, Skye took a small opening as she quickly and fiercely swung her scythe down on her enemy's unprotected shoulder, hoping to do some damage.
The speed of Atlas's shielding, however, was very impressive with its quickness and agility, and his vast experience made even such a quick block efficient enough to completely negate Skye's strike.
Atlas swiftly sends his javelin racing toward Skye's neck, forcing her to use all her training and instincts to dodge the potentially lethal attack.
"Fools!" Atlas laughed gleefully as he danced out of the way of arrows and spells. "Did you think that you could beat me, that you would survive this battle?"
Backing away, Skye took a quick look around the battlefield as Percy continued to attack Atlas. Thalia and Luke were both engaged in a fiery yet flashy battle as they each tried to one-up each other. Annabeth was stopping any monsters that tried to interfere in the battles going on around them. Zoe and Lyra were both helping from a distance shoot arrows and spells, killing monsters and providing distraction where they could.
Skye noticed subconsciously that Atlas was the higher threat that was holding them back from their goal. He was the one who can and will be able to keep them at bay. The only one who would have a chance to outmaneuver him would be her Lady, but how to achieve that is the question.
Watching the battle between Atlas and her goddaughter, Lyra noticed a few problems Skye was barely holding her own against this threat, not that she blamed her. After all, this Titan had just had more experience than Skye had.
With this observation, Lyra knew she had to get involved in this fight. Lyra knew instinctively that both Lily and James would be rolling in the graves with what she was about to do, but she had to help Skye. She could not allow her goddaughter to be harmed any further.
Lyra could see that by observing both Skye and Percy, her wand would not be able to do much damage. As such, Lyra pushed some of her magic into one of her bracelets, transforming it into her bronze sword.
With her sword in one hand and her wand in the other, Lyra charged into the fray, casting prank spells as she went. These spells were something Lyra worked on in the time chamber. It was an annoyance to the enemy, but an advantage for her.
Lyra soon found herself in a battle of strength, power, and will as she occupied Atlas in the best way a marauder could do, allowing Skye and Percy to attack the Titans' exposed sides.
With a leap, Skye was behind Atlas's guard as she rammed her scythe into his left thigh with a strength only a hybrid would possess. The magic-infused weapon pierced straight through the man's leg and muscle, causing the deep wound to gush ichor rather quickly.
With a roar of rage and pain, Atlas threw a vicious blow, knocking both Lyra and Percy into the mountain wall. "You will pay for that!" Atlas promised as he turned towards the young hybrid.
"Did you really think that you could stop me?!" Atlas growled as he slowly stalked towards Skye, ignoring his injured leg and swatting away any stray arrows.
"I know that I cannot stop you, but that does not stop me from trying," Skye said with fierce determination as she stood her ground against this large threat.
With a growl of rage, Atlas attached, ignoring his wounded leg altogether. Skye could see with each strike that this Titan was no longer holding back. His attacks came faster and stronger, and his only target was Skye herself. The others were mere pests of his attacks.
Never before had Skye experienced such a battle. Even with her training with Lord Pan, Skye could see that she stood no chance as each attack increased with ferocity that Skye could barely keep up with her defense. Never before had Skye been more thankful for Lord Pan and his relentless training. After all, she would have been dead with the first few strikes of Atlas's javelin.
"You are strong and fast, little monster child," Atlas said as he brought his javelin down towards Skye's neck. "I would have easily given you a place amongst us, but after seeing your loyalty towards Artemis, I think not."
Snarling at Atlas, Skye answered him while dodging the attacks with great effort. "You are correct in my loyalty; I will never betray my family. I would rather die." With that, Skye throws herself into a counterattack, hoping to find an opening into his rather flawless assault.
"As you wish," Atlas smirked as he went for the kill.
Dazed, Lyra took a moment before she refocused back on the battle between Skye and Atlas after her counter against the mountain wall.
"NO!" Lyra roared as she saw the moment Atlas's javelin pierced through her goddaughter's body. The celestial bronze weapon pierced right through Skye's stronger-than-normal skin and came out of her back.
"Ah, too bad. You had the most potential here." Atlas said as he tossed Skye's body several feet away from him before turning to his next victim.
"You…. will…. pay…. for…. that!" Lyra said in an icy tone as she stalked toward the foolish titan.
"Hoho… and you think you will make me pay, you insignificant insect?" The Titan asked amused.
Lyra knew that Skye was still alive, but also knew that her life force was fading fast and that knowledge alone allowed Lyra's Black blood curse to run free. No one outside of the Black family knew about the Black blood family curse, which is a hidden curse that the Black family uses when their loved ones are on the brink of death. This curse turns one into a chimera - a hybrid of more than two different creatures, but different from the Chimera of legend. Lyra knew that there was a possibility of activating the Black curse, but the life of her goddaughter meant so much more than the consciousness of the Chimera's curse. Of course, the Black Chimera curse is permanent and uses the timeline of the werewolf curse. Lyra will be able to change at will when those she sees as family are in danger but will be forced to change when the moon is full.
"Think what you will, but know this: I will always harm those that harm my goddaughter," Lyra growled.
With each step forward, Lyra let herself change into something that the huntress would later call their guardian, a form mixed with that of a Kitsuné, werewolf, and human, combining the powers and abilities of each into one being.
Zoe took one agonizing look at how much her father had fallen before moving towards her downed sister.
"Gods above, Skye!" Zoe exclaimed the moment she saw the extent of her sister's wound. "Please, oh please, do not die on me," Zoe whimpered as she slowly placed pressure upon Skye's wound.
"Z… Zoe?" Skye groaned, confused.
"Yes, little one," Zoe said softly, trying to slow down the bleeding from Skye's wound.
"H… hurts." Skye whimpered out in pain.
"I know, little one," Zoe said as she quickly looked up, trying to find someone or something to help her save Skye from death. "Just try to stay with me, please?"
"Trying…" Skye moaned softly, just as her eyes fluttered closed.
Meanwhile, Percy ran up to Lady Artemis, hoping to free her from her burden in some manner. After all, Lyra needed help with the Titan.
"The sky," Percy said after he removed the chains from the goddess's form. "Give it to me."
"No, boy." Artemis gasped out in pain, feeling the crushing weight of the sky as well as the latent pain from the bond between her and the young hybrid. "You do not know what you are asking. It will crush you!"
"Lyra needs help with Atlas, and Skye is busy dying," Percy exclaimed in exasperation, not believing that they were fighting over this.
"You will not be able to last long," Artemis said in a strained voice.
"Doesn't matter," Percy said as he moved next to the goddess, bracing himself to take the weight of the sky. "Now, give me the weight of the sky!"
For a moment, Artemis, and Percy both bore the weight of the sky before Artemis slipped out from under the burden to go and help Lyra and get Atlas back under the sky as soon as possible.
Fast as lightning, Artemis attacked the heavily occupied Titan. Like hellfire, Artemis rained attack after attack upon the Titan general, catching him totally off guard.
Atlas roared as he dodged the attacks with eons of experience, but still, he sustained wounds from Artemis's hunting blades as Lyra moved to her darker spells, ignoring her sword as Lady Artemis was far more skilled in combat than her.
"You will not stop me!" Atlas growled as he dodged another strike.
"Like hell!" Lyra roared before casting her chain of spells in quick succession "Aguamenti, Glacius Tria, Impedimenta, Alarte Ascendare, Sectumsempra, descendo, immobulus, confingo."
The effects of each spell hit Atlas head-on; after all, he never thought a witch would fight him with unknown spells. The first spell turned the floor wet, the second spell iced over the ground, the third spell caused him to trip, the fourth spell threw him into the air unexpectedly, the fifth spell caused a multitude of wounds to appear upon his body, the sixth spell brought him down to earth, the seventh spell caused him to freeze and finally he was knocked towards Artemis who took over with the assault upon Atlas.
By now, Atlas was in an uncomfortable amount of rage, making it easier for Artemis to push him back toward the sky.
"Get ready," Artemis said to Percy.
"You fight well for a girl," Atlas said with a cocky lit in his voice with an undercurrent of rage. "But you are no match for me."
Atlas advanced, pressing Artemis, sensing the end of the fight approaching. He feigned with the tip of his javelin just as Artemis dodged. But the attack was a trick as Atlas's javelin swept around, knocking Artemis's legs out from under her. The moon goddess fell hard, and Atlas brought up his javelin, readying for the kill.
"Not a chance!" Lyra exclaimed as she leaped between Atlas and Artemis and shot a few more spells towards the Titan. "Everte statum, Avis, impedimenta." Atlas bellowed in rage the moment the first spell struck, knocking him back with birds attacking him next while he moved in slow motion, allowing Lyra to move away from the Titan just in time for the next part of the plan.
Lyra knew that her spells would have made the Titan reckless, forcing him to attack Artemis and play directly into the moon goddess's plans.
"Your blood will be mine!" Atlas roared as he stabbed his javelin downward toward the seemingly injured goddess.
As fast as lightning, Artemis grabbed the javelin shaft as it hit the ground right next to her. Pulling back, the goddess used the javelin as a lever as she kicked the Titan Lord over her crouching body towards Percy and the weight of the sky.
Atlas slammed into Percy, pushing the young son of the sea god away from the burden of the sky. The weight of the sky dropped upon Atlas's back, forcing him to hold the burden once again.
"Noooo!" He bellowed so hard it shook the mountain. "Not again!"
Atlas was once again trapped under his old burden, the place he belonged all along.
Meanwhile, Thalia backed the son of Hermes to the edge of the cliff as they fought on. Thalia had tears staining her face as she slashed Luke across his chest.
Luke lunged towards Thalia, hoping to get the upper hand, but the young daughter of Zeus slammed her shield into him. Luke's sword spun out of his hands and clattered towards the rocks as Thalia levered her spear to his throat."
"Well?" Luke asked as he tried to hide the sudden fear running through his body.
"No! Don't kill him!" Annabeth shouted as she killed another group of monsters.
"He is a traitor, Annie," Thalia said with fury.
"We… ah can bring him back to Olympus." Annabeth pleaded. "He can be useful."
"We both know that I will not come with you back to Olympus, Thalia." Luke sneered at the thought of ever going back to Olympus.
Thalia hesitated only for a second, but that was enough for Luke to make a desperate grab for her spear.
"No!" Annabeth screamed, but it was too late. Without thinking, Thalia kicked Luke away from her and closer to the mountain edge. Luke lost his balance at the last second with terror on his face. He fell off the cliff's edge.
"Luke!" Annabeth screamed in terror.
"He… he is gone," Percy whispered as he saw Luke's broken body on the rocks below.
Thalia was stiff with grief, and Annabeth was frozen in shock. Percy grabbed the two girls and pulled them towards Artemis, Lyra, Zoe, and the still bleeding Skye.
"Artemis!" Percy yelled.
The goddess looked up from where Lyra was slowly assessing the wounds on her goddaughter's bleeding body. Artemis's face was creased with worry as Zoe kept holding pressure upon Skye's wounds.
"Oh god…" Thalia said softly as she stopped next to her sister. "Is she still alive?"
"Yes, she is, but barely," Zoe whispered.
"Okay, you three need to keep any stray monsters away from us," Lyra said, looking toward Percy before turning toward Zoe. "I need you to keep your hands firmly on Skye's wounds."
Lyra removed a few potions from her bottomless bag that was connected to her potions stockpile in her vault in Gringotts "Artemis, I need you to give the following potions to Skye. Please make sure she swallows each drop. I will slowly and steadily heal the gushes Atlas gave her."
"Okay, but what are they, and what will they do?" Artemis asked as she brought the potions towards her.
"The red bottle is the blood replenishment potion; it will replenish the blood Skye lost. The green bottle is a pain-relieving potion, the orange potion is nerve-regenerating, and lastly, the white bottle is Skele-Gro, which will regrow the damaged bones." Lyra explained as she indicated to each bottle in front of Artemis.
Nodding, Artemis slowly forced the liquid down Skye's throat just as Lyra started her healing chant. "Vulnera Sanentur… Vulnera Sanentur… Vulnera Sanentur."
Moments later, Lyra's spell took hold of Skye's body as the wounds slowly knitted themselves back together, leaving a slight scar in the shape of a star on her chest.
"Did it work?" Zoe asked as Lyra moved back. "Is she going to be okay?"
"She will be fine, Zoe," Lyra said with a tired smile. "You kept her alive, so thank you."
"Why did the wound leave a scar?" Artemis asked worriedly. "And why does it look like a star?"
"I cannot be sure, but it can be because of her hybrid nature. She isn't like any other Demi-god or witch, and this is not the first mystery surrounding her." Lyra said softly.
"Come, we must get Skye away from here," Artemis said softly as she slowly moved a strand of Skye's hair from the young one's face.
Nodding with a soft smile. "You are correct, Skye will still be asleep for a little while, and we do need to get you back to Olympus before the solstice meeting begins."
Nodding, Artemis raised her hunting horn towards her lips and blew ever so slightly. A second later a clear sound echoed through the air.
Just then, the moonlight brightened, and a beautiful silver chariot appeared from the sky, drawn by the most beautiful deer Lyra has ever seen.
"Get in," Artemis said as the chariot landed right next to them.
Annabeth and Thalia climbed on board first, followed by Percy. Zoe carefully helped Lady Artemis and Lyra with Skye. Once settled, Artemis pulled the reins of the chariot, and with that, they sped away from the mountain and into the night sky, leaving behind the army of surviving monsters and Atlas as they bellowed curses against them and the gods.